BayCare Health System is adopting an app aimed at helping patients and visitors find their way around any of the health system’s hospitals.

The app rolled out in August at St. Anthony’s Hospital in St. Petersburg and plans are to have it at all 14 BayCare hospitals by 2019, including Winter Haven Hospital and Bartow Regional Medical Center in Polk County.

The app, BayCare Compass, is for use on smart phones or tablets.

Available for free download on the Apple App store or Google Play, features include detailed maps of publicly available hospital floors with turn-by-turn directions, real-time locations, directory of publicly available departments and clinics, points of interest around the hospital and driving and parking directions.

BayCare Compass is powered by Connexient, whose MediNavTM solution is now in use at more than two dozen health systems across the country.

Parents welcomed in trauma center

ORLANDO – Orlando Health Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children recently released a national survey that found 90 percent of Americans think parents should have the option to stay with their child during trauma care for life-threatening injury or illness.

It’s a policy that Arnold Palmer hospital has had in place for years, but experts say this is still not the norm among pediatric trauma centers, according to a news release from Orlando Health.

Orlando Health is an affiliate of Lakeland Regional Medical Center.

“It’s a common misconception among caregivers that parents will be a distraction in the trauma room, but I’ve actually found that it’s a benefit that not only comforts the patients and parents, but helps guide the care that’s given in those critical situations,” Dr. Donald Plumley, a pediatric surgeon and medical director for pediatric trauma at Orlando Health Arnold Palmer Hospital, said in the release. “Parents are a valuable resource for information on their child such as allergies, medical history and details on their injury or condition.”

Parents are able to follow their child into the trauma room alongside the medical team and are accompanied by a staff member to support them and keep them informed.

"It helps tremendously if a child is agitated or scared, and oftentimes we’re even able to forgo sedation or administer less pain medication because the parent is able to keep the child calm,” Plumley said.

Send Business of Health items to marilyn.meyer@theledger.com.

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